The Blue Raiders finished in a school-record time of 3:44.01, putting themselves in great position to earn one of the eight at-large relay berths to the PIAA Swimming Championships set for March 13-14 at Bucknell University.

Only the District 11 champion in each event earns an automatic berth to states. The PIAA will announce the at-large bids either today or Monday, when the times from all of the district meets are compiled.

"We told each other that this was not going to be Caroline's last swim," said Butkus, who nearly caught Southern Lehigh anchor Madison Amann over the final 50 yards.

"If we make states, it will be my 18th birthday," Kanaskie said. "I'm crossing my fingers."

Southern Lehigh dominated the team competition with 552.5 points, with Blue Mountain second at 221 and Tamaqua third at 210.5.

Amey finished fourth in the 500 freestyle, slicing 13 seconds off her seed time of 5:42.26 to earn her second individual medal in as many days with a time of 5:29.27.

She also got the Tamaqua 400 freestyle relay off to a great start, staying right on the heels of front-running Southern Lehigh and Salisbury through the first four laps.

"The first two laps, I was just trying to get a good lead for the rest of the team," Amey said. "I noticed two other girls were really close to me, so I just tried to stay close to them and not let them get too far ahead."

DeCindio maintained the Blue Raiders' quick pace, and Kanaskie dove in with Tamaqua in third place.

After battling illness for roughly the last month, she surpassed Salisbury's Kaleigh Bobeck and moved Tamaqua into contention for gold.

"For Schuylkill League championships, I had strep, a double-ear infection â¦ I had it all," said Kanaskie, who earlier in the day broke the school record in the 100 backstroke by placing sixth in 1:03.54. "I guess I tried to recover from that too fast, and I got really sick again right when we started tapering.

"I was able to bring it back today."

That set the stage for Butkus, who nearly gave Tamaqua the gold. With the crowd on its feet, Butkus caught Amann but couldn't pass her. Southern Lehigh finished in 3:42.53.

Tamaqua's time was the fastest by a Schuylkill League 400 freestyle relay team since the Blue Mountain foursome of Kristen Caldarella, Caitlyn Hoysock, Erin Schneck and Lindsay Guers went 3:43.84 in 2006.

"I tried to catch her, because I know what this means to everybody," said Butkus, whose split time was 53.37. "I went as hard as I could, and it paid off.

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